Two Sides of a Coin
by Lulilummu
Summary: Every coin has two sides, but when laid on a table, only one side faces up. We follow Lyna, a blind elven rogue, on her journey to end the blight. The road leads to discovery, secrets, and much more. contains: fem/, or Yuri. Rated M just in case. Some AU.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING, well not really, but for the most part, Bioware created this universe and I am one simply to tread alongside it.**_

_**Thanks Sheena for making this far better than it was. i'd be so lost without her, LUV U ^^**_

**Prologue**

In the still airs of the Korcari Wilds, a minute rumble whispers through the leaves of the silent forest. A black juvenile pup perks its ears up in response to the sudden murmur that was drifting through the normally soundless swamp like a serpent stalking its prey. Interested, the young pup pushed itself off the ground, twisting and turning its head and ears, eagerly searching for the source of such alien noises. The black fur ball trailed the sound of steel stomping into the damp soil of the swamp, eventually leading itself to the owner of the mysterious sound; a wagon. A fine stallion led the odd contraption of wood, linen, and steel. In it sat a family of elves, most likely from a nearby city, given that they were in cages. Most of the elves in the cage were standing since there was scarce space for all of them to sit down.

Of the family of elves, the most notable was a toddler; a petite elven toddler who had crimson hair which glimmered like rubies in the soft moonlight. The little elf slouched in the corner of the cage, hardly aware of a pair of ember eyes locked onto her.

A sudden crack shook the little fur ball, now tailing the wagon of interest. It lost its footing, making it trot a few steps away from said wagon. The juvenile turned its head, revealing a stout human holding the reigns to the stallion. The wolf's brows pinched at the sight. Finally aware of the human presence in the entire ordeal, the lone pup noticed several other built men following the wagon, all armed. However, before the juvenile wolf was able to make sense of the situation, a sudden _thwack_, scream, and _thud_ cut it short of its thoughts. The man with the reigns crashed limply into the soil, an explosion of dirt echoing his fall.

The elves in the cage swiftly fell into a state of panic, save for the red-headed toddler. The men who were previously behind the wagon now encompassed it, as if their "cargo" were worth protecting. A few moments later, more armed, snarling men emerged from the dark bushes. Conflict ensued; roars and shrieks filled the cloudless night sky while sparks shredded from embracing steel. Completely uninvolved in the current complication, the wolf cub simply watched curiously; the red-headed toddler did the same.

Those men who shielded the "cargo" were soon put to rest. An alpha male presented himself in front of the cage. The other men sifted through the bloody sacks of meat that were sprawled lifeless in the soil. The silent toddler watched as one of the men handed something to the man in front of the cage. The alpha male displayed a gallant grimace under the moonlight, showing his crooked, yellow rows of teeth. The male presented a rusty key in his large hand. He thrust it into the key hole of the cage, and with a sharp twist of his wrist, he swung the door open. The elves cowered towards the back of the cage, although it was futile; one by one they were dragged out. After a pretentiously long time, the enormous man finally reached into the cage to grab the youngest of the bunch. He grinned, his mind reeling in ecstasy with the amount of gold he'd get for selling this fine piece of work.

However, before anyone could react, a dark shadow leapt like lightning onto the man's arm, sinking its sharp, canine teeth well into the man's flesh. With a jagged scream of curses, the man lost his footing and fell back; his not so pretty hind side hit the ground with a dull _thud_. The confused band of misfits simply stared at the sudden intruder, and said intruder stared back with its xanthous eyes and dripping red fangs.

The bandits paused. The alpha male, clearly not as alpha anymore, continued to curse. The rest of the bandits simply held on to their respective captures. Everyone waited as the cries and whimpers of the man finally dimmed. A low growl from the wolf was still audible. The freshly injured male picked himself off the ground and reached for his sword. The nimble little elf got to her feet and dashed for his blade.

But she was too late.

She looked up at the man, who now had a foot long bar of sharpened metal at hand. As her eyes finally reached the man's face, a thin shadow appeared by the side of her eye. The man ruthlessly swept the blade across the little elf's face. An eerie silence fell upon them, followed by an unearthly scream, mixed with the cries and whimpers of the young toddler. The shadow quickly stepped ahead of the crying red-head, placing itself protectively between her and the man. The crying elf had both hands pressing against her eyes, rolling and tumbling about in pure agony. Blood flowed in endless streams from her eyes and blended into her scarlet mane. The man let out a _tsk _under his breath, frustrated from accidentally damaging such potential cargo. He turned and signaled the rest of his men to follow with the elves that still held a purpose.

Grunts and shuffles became more distant as the seconds ticked by. The lone wolf stared in the direction that the foul stench of men lingered for a mere moment before turning back to the weeping elf, where its face dropped to a much less intimidating stance. The wolf paced circles around the slouched figure, not sure what to do, until it settled to simply look after the feigning creature. For a while the weeping continued, until eventually the small creature cried herself to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I altered the wardens origin a bit from the original game to fit my own selfish, egotistic needs, which you will find out about sooner or later. Beware, this is fem/, yuri, or whatever you'd like to call it (atrocity as some may prefer), in case it was blatantly obvious. I'm not sure how I'll incorporate Lyna's origin yet, either by slowly revealing or another story dedicated to the prologue, but for now, we can put that behind us. Also, I assume anyone reading this has played the game so most likely if you haven't you'll have zip idea of what's going on. P.s. thought about putting a oc in here, what does everybody think. LUV YOU SHEENA 3**_

**Chapter 1**

Alistair finally returned with the three Wardens in training—although _training_ may not be the correct term for a certain recruit. The recruits were led back through the camp to Duncan.

"Ah, nice to see all of you return in one piece," the bearded man said as he turned to face them. "So, have you gotten the pieces I've requested?"

"Yes Duncan, here." Alistair held out the treaties to Duncan, and then nudged Lyna for the vials of blood. The elf clumsily scavenged her sack, eventually retrieving three vials of dark, viscous liquid, and handed them to the commanding Warden.

The recruits said nothing as they were led to an open yard. A large, silver chalice rested upon an altar; this was the same room that she met the preceding Templar in training, Alistair. Lyna assumed that this was the infamous Warden joining ritual that the other two recruits were babbling about.

"I don't like this, from all I've heard about the joining ritual," the knight Jory snorted anxiously.

"Oh suck it up, you little princess," Daveth rebuked at the knight.

"It's just… why do they have to be so secretive about the joining? If it's just a ritual then they shouldn't have the need to hide it from us. Haven't we gone through enough to establish our place in the Grey Wardens?"

"It _is_ the Blight we're trying to stop here," the little elf replied. "If it were that easy to become a Warden, then they wouldn't be held in such high regard."

"She's right," Duncan cut off Jory who was about to speak, "we Grey Wardens pay a large price to become what we are."

The three vials of blood lay on the altar of the ruined temple. Duncan picked up one of the vials and poured its thick contents into the chalice. "The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity was on the brink of obliteration. That was when the first Warden feasted upon the blood of the darkspawn, and mastered its taint," the dark bearded man explained as he offered the chalice to Daveth. The rogue took hold of the overly sized cup and brought it closer to him.

"Wait, you want us to drink their blood? The blood of those... those... _things_?" Jory exclaimed with disgust.

"Like those before us, and like us before you, this is our source of power," Duncan exclaimed in his calm, settling voice.

"Those who survive the joining become immune to the taint; become capable of sensing the darkspawn," Alistair persisted.

"This is the price we pay for our victory," Duncan continued. "This is why we keep the joining a secret."

"Wait, what do you mean by those who survive?" Jory questioned with a note of panic. "I didn't sign up for this." He frantically reached for his weapons.

Duncan's face collapsed as the knight pulled his sword. He sighed gruffly. "I'm sorry, Jory." With a swift parry of Jory's sword Duncan lunged at the frightened knight. His blade slipped though the gaps of the splint-mail armor, reaching deep into its target. A strangled grunt erupted from the tall knight's throat before he fell to the ground.

With a sudden squeal, Lyna knelt just before the knight. "Jory!" she yelled, her hands desperately searching for the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Her raid continued for a few moments before a vague sob escaped the elf. "You didn't have to kill him!" she suddenly snapped at Duncan.

"The joining must be kept a secret," the elder Warden chided coldly.

Alistair knelt down and placed his hand on the shoulder of the small woman, attempting to console her. Lyna folded her hand over his in confirmation, and then forced a smile.

Daveth, still holding the chalice of tainted blood, observed the scene in horror. Duncan prompted Alistair to speak words of the joining.

_"Join us, brothers and sister. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you."_

Daveth brought the chalice to his mouth and tilted its contents down his throat. He gulped and hurriedly returned the chalice to the elder Warden.

Suddenly the world spun around the rogue, screams and pain enticing him. Piercing screeches pounded his head in excruciating torture as he stumbled about. The rogue clenched his face in agony, and when he opened his eyes again, there was nothing but white and a dark rim around his sclera. Daveth clawed at his throat, desperate to relieve a non-existent object from his wind pipe. Duncan could be heard apologizing to the poor man as the rogue fell silent against the cold stone.

Duncan turned to the altar and began to pour the vial of poison into the chalice. Lyna stepped forward and snatched the vial. Duncan immediately had his hand on the handle of his dagger, but the elf unexpectedly dumped the taint into her mouth.

Her dark sight was suddenly flooded with images. Sights of darkspawn marching through the underground and a large dragon spraying fire over them littered her brain. The demented creatures patrolled forward, listening to the voice of the dragon. Almost as quickly as the images came, her vision returned to the darkness. Her remaining four senses dulled, and ultimately failed as she dropped to the ground.

"Nice to see at least one of you survive the joining. At my joining only one of us died."

Lyna woke to the voice of the ex-templar in training. She sat up, shaking her head. "What _was_ that?"

"You mean the dragon? That's the Archdemon; an old god tainted by the blood of the darkspawn." Alistair reached his hand out to pull up the new Warden, but mentally slapped himself upon realizing that said Warden couldn't see his hand.

Lyna felt a hand on her back urging her to get up. She slowly rose to her feet before as Alistair told her that the king wanted to meet the new Warden.

Upon entering the great hall—at least, that's what she assumed it to be—she was greeted by a familiar voice; King Cailen.

"Hello there, Wardens. I'm sorry about what happened at the joining," the king spoke. Duncan responded with a simple nod.

"Down to business, shall we?" The King raised his hand, gesturing to a large table in the middle of the room. Lyna followed the footsteps of the party to the table. "This is General Loghain, the commander of the army, and regent to me. We are currently discussing tactics for the battle later on."

The men rattled on about legends and honor. Lyna could feel the tension in the air as they continued further into discussion. Lyna barely had any input in the meeting, but it was decided that the King's army, along with the Grey Wardens, would take a frontal assault from the darkspawn skirmish. Loghain's army would then flank the darkspawn forces at the signal of a beacon. The entire plan fell on Loghain's army. Cailen and Duncan knew that they wouldn't be able to take the full force head on without backup; the lighting of the beacon to call upon extra troops was crucial. Although scouts informed them that the Tower of Ishal—where the beacon was located—would not be defended, Duncan wasn't certain. To be sure, he sent the two Wardens on the task, despite their protests.

Soon, dawn's light shimmered over the horizon. A howl rung through the air, signaling incoming darkspawn forces. With that, the two young Wardens headed out for the Tower of Ishal.

"Um… Ali?"

"_What_, Lyna?" Alistair shouted back as he pulled his sword free from the crevice he had pierced in the face of a darkspawn. He groaned in disgust as the remains of the vile creature slumped to the ground in a mess of twitching flesh and blood.

"I don't suppose you can hear the REALLY loud footsteps?"

Alistair paused at the notion. The room stilled as everyone thought over what Lyna just said. The three men let out a simultaneously uncoordinated gasp as they felt the rumble beneath their feet. A few gulps could be heard down the flight of stairs. Just as quickly as the room fell silent, a behemoth roar rung through the massive wooden doors.

"Yes, yes I can hear the REALLY loud footsteps; I don't suppose _you _heard the REALLY scary roar?" Alistair jested, or at least attempted to. Lyna simply returned a rather forced smile.

The party of four lined up on top of the flight of stone stairs, staring at the inevitable. A wooden door—but it was never about the wooden door. It was about how the huge wooden thing fastened together with iron and steel into the study stone walls was _protecting_ the party of four. Or, at least, that's what Alistair thought. Lyna, on the other hand, wore a blank expression; but it was hard to notice any expression the blind rogue may have had under her blindfold.

Finally, with a deep breath, Alistair manned up and creaked open that one line of defense between them and what would most likely decimate them in about a flicker of a candle on the other side. Lyna would've done it, but she knew it was wiser to allow Alistair the honor.

Alistair pushed the doors open just enough to see the figure of an ogre. The Templar turned his head back to his team; he almost expected someone to faint in the group. But no one did, which rendered him somewhat ashamed since he was already feeling rather numb in the knees. Alistair gave the doors a final shove, allowing enough space for the group to enter.

The two tower guards rushed into the room before Alistair could say or do anything, so he simply followed. The warriors hacked away at the large ogre, dodging and rolling around the creature as it clawed at them with muscular arms. Amidst the chaos, Lyna seemed to have vanished. All seemed well until one of the guards lodged his sword too deep into the tough skin of the beast. The ogre swiped down and grabbed the poor man as he screamed and squirmed within its grasp. Then, along with a might roar, the beast crushed the brave young man, spurting blood over the cold stone floor.

The creature stared down at its next victim, subsequently dropping the unnamed warrior, his body crashing to the ground in a pile of broken bones and torn muscle. Its victim let out a shaky yelp and ran for the doors. The ogre crouched down, preparing to ram the remaining guard into oblivion. Alistair, desperate to do something to save his fellow comrade—especially after losing one already—charged at the ogre. However, it was in vain. The giant beast simply charged over him, disregarding his presence.

The guard ran through the barely opened wooden doors into supposed safety, but the mass of muscle rammed right through it, sending the tower guard into the opposing wall. The slam echoed into the other room as the warrior's blood painted the wall before returning to the ground with a sickening _crunch_.

The beast stood there for a moment, seemingly basking in its recent accomplishment, before turning to the last living man in the room.

"Lyna! Where in the Maker's name are you?" Alistair howled in his frustration.

The ogre stared down at the puny man as its giant steps strode it forward, ready to end this man's life as quickly as it had with its other prey. However, the baleful beast stopped moving, and instead stood there with agony splashed across its face. It pulled its hand over its abdomen to no effect. Alistair stepped back in wonder, contemplating his next possible move under the sudden change of events. He raised his shield in preparation of whatever may come at him. To his disbelief the monster came to its knees. A fissure formed on the surface of the ogre's abdomen. Just in time, Alistair ducked under his shield, protecting himself from a sudden gush of innards.

The terrorized Templar peaked up from his shield, now covered in who knows what, to see Lyna walking away from the exposed behemoth of a beast, bathed in the bloody mysteries of the ogre's insides. The monster simply knelt there, void of motion. Alistair tried to make sense of everything, but quickly chose to drop the idea. Too much had happened too fast, and he knew he would get overwhelmed if he tried to process it all right now—especially with the stink of ogre intestines showering his shield. He would think about it more later; for now, he decided to go and light the beacon.

He observed and Lyna quietly listened as the beacon set aflame. Without warning, an arrow pierced Lyna's shoulder from behind, its tip emerging from a bloody hole on the other side. Alistair reacted to the sudden attack, pulling the crippled rogue behind his blood-coated shield as he turned to face a horde of darkspawn.

Lyna angled her sightless gaze down at her wound, her trembling fingertips gently grazing the point of the arrow. Her head became light and she struggled to maintain conscious, but with another wave of pain she gave away to the darkness.

_**A/N: **_

_**Took me forever to remember the word blindfold = =.**_

_**I am aware that if you choose a rogue class that you would get a mage for the temporary companion. I did say AU = =. Game wise, it makes sense mechanically perfectly, but as a story it didn't really flow well with what I wanted, woohoo, go ego.**_

_**So I'm not good with long chapters. I feel that they will be some to come but in general there may be more short chapters. If you prefer long chapters tell me, I don't mind really. You also may have noticed that I am dreadful with dialogue, so insert helpful person here help me = =.**_


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